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Saturday, February 19
Iowa School Board Association Should Join Anti-Bullying Effort
by
Trish Nelson
on Sat 19 Feb 2005 08:28 AM CST
 Iowa School Board Association Should Join Anti-Bullying Effort
contributed by David Leshtz
by Dr. Carolyn E. Cutrona
Ames, Iowa
All
children deserve a safe, high-quality public education, regardless of
whether they are Christian, Muslim, black, white, brown, gay, straight,
girl, boy, fat, skinny, short, tall, rich or poor. Unfortunately,
this is not yet the case for many of our children. Their reality is
filled with words like “faggot,” “dyke,” or “queer” and the constant
stress of verbal and physical harassment, sometimes just for being
friends with a kid who may be gay or lesbian. Some students are
ridiculed for being unable to afford designer clothes; others suffer
from physical appearance attacks such as “pizza-face” or “banana-nose;”
or disabilities (“Retard!”). Painful, painful stuff.
One of
Iowa’s largest and most powerful education associations - the Iowa
Association of School Boards - is resisting its members’ being required
by law to intervene to protect students from all types of harassment.
This organization opposes anti-bullying legislation that would protect
all of Iowa’s children, regardless of gender, race, religion,
disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical
attributes, or any other characteristic, from harassment and bullying.
Fortunately
for Iowa’s young people, the Iowa Association of School Boards stands
alone in their opposition as the rest of the education community - the
Iowa Department of Education, the Iowa State Education Association, and
School Administrators of Iowa - have gone on record stating that all
students should be protected from bullying and harassment in their
support for safe school policies, including gay and lesbian youth,
overweight youth, and youth with any other characteristic that may
trigger mistreatment.
A group
of parents, educators and concerned citizens has been working for three
years to encourage education policy makers and the Iowa Legislature to
pass safe school policies. We have approached this as a
non-political, bi-partisan issue, reaching out to both sides of the
political aisle and bringing people together on a value upon which most
Iowans can agree —that all students deserve a safe, high-quality
education. As the mother of two Iowa children, this is a value I
hold close to my heart, as I want my children and their fellow students
to have a safe place in which to learn and grow.
We need
to send a clear and direct message that Iowans believe that all
students should be protected from discrimination, harassment, and
bullying in our schools.
Monday, February 7
Action Alert: WQPT Fears So-Called "Moral Values" Voters, Won't Run Show Featuring Lesbians
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 07 Feb 2005 05:01 AM CST
 Action Alert: WQPT Fears So-Called "Moral Values" Voters, Won't Run Show Featuring Lesbians
Submitted by Alta Price, Democracy for the Quad Cities
WQPT won't run 'Buster' episode featuring lesbians
Moline's
public television station, WQPT, has decided not to air an episode of a
children's show that implies two families have lesbian moms.
FAIR, a national media watch group, in an action alert on this issue writes:
[PBS
chief operating officer] Wayne Godwin went on to claim the episode
conflicted with PBS's purpose: "The presence of a couple headed by two
mothers would not be appropriate curricular purpose that PBS should
provide."
It's a
disturbing view for the COO of PBS to hold, particularly since public
television's mandate as set forth in the 1967 Carnegie Commission
Report is to "provide a voice for groups in the community that may
otherwise be unheard," to serve as "a forum for controversy and
debate," and to broadcast programs that "help us see America whole, in
all its diversity."
Take Action: Contact WQPT
E-mail: wqpt@bhc.edu
Call WQPT: 309/796-2424 or 800/747-2430
Fax: 309/796-2484
WQPT is
a great resource for our community. Susan McPeters has interviewed
every guest Quad Citians Affirming Diversity has brought into the
community in our efforts to help our community become more accepting of
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) youth. But the media
hype about the power of the “moral values” voters has made some elected
officials, school board superintendents, and media folks afraid of
crossing the anti-gay crowd. The vast, tolerant, moral majority in the
Quad Cities needs to reassure WQPT that airing this program has the
support of the community.
Be
respectful. Assume they will change their mind. If you are a financial
supporter of WQPT, mention that. Do not threaten to stop contributing.
Point out that public TV is for everyone, including people who are gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT). We want our children to
understand and respect differences and learn to live in a multicultural
society. At a time when one in three gay teens is threatened with a
weapon while at school, we want to teach our children not to hate those
who are different.
For comments, more information, or questions contact:
Alta Price, Democracy for the Quad Cities.
Friday, February 4
Iowa DNC Members Endorse Dean, Finally! Nothing Like Waiting Until It's a Fait Accompli
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 04 Feb 2005 05:07 AM CST
 Iowa DNC Members Endorse Dean, Finally! Nothing Like Waiting Until It's a Fait Accompli
IDP Website
[I'll bet Gordon Fischer is rolling over on the putting green in his law office.]
(DES MOINES)—Lieutenant
Governor Sally Pederson, Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party announced
[Wednesday] evening that eight voting members of the Democratic
National Committee from Iowa have endorsed former Vermont Governor
Howard Dean for DNC Chair.
“I am
pleased that DNC members from Iowa are in agreement about the future
leadership of our national party,” said Lieutenant Governor Pederson.
“Governor Dean has proven his leadership by building a broad base of
support within the party, particularly from other Heartland states. [Yes,
Sally, here in Iowa, too. It's just not as evident because of the
way the IDP put so much effort into trying to suppress it.] He has demonstrated that he can and will lead our party in new and innovative ways.”
The members of Iowa’s Delegation endorsing Governor Dean are:
Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson, Iowa Democratic Party Chair
Rob Tully, Iowa Democratic Party First Vice-Chair
Governor Tom Vilsack
State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald
Attorney General Tom Miller
Sandy Opstvedt, National Committeewoman
Ken Rains, National Committeeman
Grant Woodard, College Democrats of America
Commentary: Well, I
must say, I was wondering if Iowa was going to come through for Dean or
if they were going to embarrass us by continuing Gordon Fischer's
policy of telling DFA that Dean was unwelcome in Iowa and that
post-caucus, Dean would hurt our candidates if he came here to stump
for them - this in spite of the fact that several of DFIA's endorsed
candidates made requests for Gov. Dean to come back to Iowa to help
them. No, the IDP was satisfied to work with a base that was
burnt out from a year of pre-caucus activity - tired, burnt out,
discouraged. We on the ground all thought that a visit from Dean
would energize us again. But Fischer and the IDP blocked it at
every turn.
Well, I
sincerely hope that if Dean becomes chair of the DNC, Iowa and the IDP
will be more hospitable to him. [The money Dean has promised the
state parties to pay the salaries of the upper echelon certainly can't
hurt.]
P.S.
Soooooooo glad we got rid of ol' Gordo and his damaging power struggles
and temper tantrums. Hope Sally is more level headed.
Also in Dean news:
*On Thursday, the National Stonewall Democrats
announced their support of Dean for DNC chair. The membership of
the GLBT organization voted overwhelmingly (90.42%) in Dean's favor.
*As of Thursday, Dean had public commitments from 213 members of the DNC. Dean needs a simple majority (224) to win the election.
*The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest teachers organization, has endorsed Dean, too.
*Dean also picked up the endorsement of the Conference of Southern Black Democrats this week.
6:30pm Update
*According to The Associated Press, "Activist Simon Rosenberg abandoned his bid
for Democratic National Committee chairman on Friday and backed
front-runner Howard Dean, moving the former presidential candidate
closer to capturing the party title."
*One week before the Democratic National Committee votes on a new leader, Dean now has more than 250 public pledges from DNC supporters, according to the political newsletter Hotline.
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